New Tampa Westin hotel set for soft opening this week

It's not all about the Super Bowl. But opening the new Westin hotel at Tampa's Rocky Point a week before the big game will attract high-profile attention — and no small amount of cash from high-rolling visitors. Owner Dilip Kanji as recently as last month said the 16-story Westin Tampa Bay Airport wouldn't be ready before mid February. But city inspectors gave final approval to the 255-room Westin on Friday and some 150 workers are getting trained for a soft opening Thursday. With the busy spring season approaching, "it's always better to finish sooner," Kanji said. "They made huge progress, so we were able to push the (opening) day up."